Indian mathematician Akshay Venkatesh wins the ‘Nobel for Mathematics’

A renowned Indian-origin mathematician Akshay Venkatesh is one of the four winners of the prestigious Fields Medal, which is also known as the ‘Nobel for Mathematics’ prize that are awarded under category every four years to the most promising mathematicians.

The Fields Medals are awarded every four years to mathematicians who have contributed significantly and is considered the most prestigious award in the field of maths, which is why it is called the “‘Nobel for Mathematics”. On Thursday, Indian-Australian mathematician Akshay Venkatesh was named among the four winners of mathematics’ prestigious Fields medal, citing his remarkable contribution for maths. Venkatesh has won the Fields Medal for his “profound contributions to an exceptionally broad range of subjects in mathematics.”

Born in New Delhi, Venkatesh moved to Australia with his parents when he was just 2 years old and has always been a child prodigy with academic achievements and accolades. He finished high school when he was 13 and went to the University of Western Australia, graduating with first class honours in mathematics in 1997, at the age of 16. At a mere age of 20 years old, when most of us are in college swag mood, Venkatesh earned his PhD and held a post-doctoral position at MIT to becoming a Clay Research Fellow and, is currently working as a professor at Stanford University.

Besides Venkatesh, the other three winners at the Field Medals in Rio de Janeiro are Caucher Birkar, a Cambridge University professor of Iranian Kurdish origin; Germany’s Peter Scholze, who teaches at the University of Bonn and Alessio Figalli, an Italian mathematician at ETH Zurich. Each winner receives a $4000 dollar worth gold medal and a 15,000 Canadian-dollar cash prize citing their prodigious contribution in the field of mathematics.